A warning about the OS X 10.11 beta: USB audio interfaces.
I have tried a RME Fireface UC, with its dedicated driver, and an iBasso D7, a “driverless” interface: both failed to output audio from Nuendo 5.5.6 and 6.5.4. This is quite similar to what was happening with the 10.9 and 10.10 betas. I had to resort to a Roland/Edirol FA-101 to output audio at 192 kHz from my MacBook Pro…
Also, the eLicenser seems to generate a lot of messages in the Console:
“eLicenser@14200000: AppleUSBDevice::waitForInterfacesGated: timeout waiting for _interfacesMatched”.
Yes, it’s strange. Almost like Microsoft and Apple have changed places. MS used to dictate in the same way as Apple. For instance, Win 7 is a great OS, but Win 8 is not. A misguided effort to “educate” consumers into what they are supposed to prefer. Some have adapted, but many have not.
But now, MS has listened and Win 10 looks to be excellent. Apple seems to listen to no one but themselves, making decisions that are so obviously designed to herd the faithful into buying what Apple wants to sell them. No quad in a Mini; slow to adopt USB3 and now they do it in a more complicated way requiring hassle with adapters; if you want a nMP get a Thunderbolt chassis or else all new interfaces; don’t need over-the-top video with 2 cards…pay anyway; sorry, we broke PCIe so no UAD Quad for you, etc, etc.
And now, maybe worse than any of that, OSX has become a minefield of “do I dare to update/upgrade?” So many things broken by OSX upgrades, people rolling back to previous versions of OS or software, everyone making sure to backup everything before daring to update, etc, etc. Sounds like Windows in 2002. Forget viruses in Win vs Apple, you don’t need viruses to mess up your machine now…Apple will do it for you!
And let’s take the nMP. For the $10,000.00 for the top model, you could have well over twice the power (24 physical cores) for less $$$ in a PC that also has all the PCIe slots you will need, saving the thousands for a chassis or else new I/O.
I have had several Macbooks in a row and made the decision to use Mac Pros for audio at my former management position at a very large facility with dozens of workstations. But I am now typing this on a PC laptop (with touchscreen) and using all PCs for audio. And I am very happy with my decision.
Too bad. Apple was once the champion for creative people. Now?
I don’t agree with that description on one level. I think what you describe has been the case for at least a decade, and Windows 8 was not an aberration, it was just misunderstood by the users. There was absolutely nothing in it that warranted the “uproar” that bloggers and opinionated people contributed to. Nothing.
That is especially true for people like us that spend most of the time in-application. For me launching Nuendo takes exactly as many key-presses on Win 8 as 7. And once I’m in the app there is zero difference. The desktop is there if I need it, all the apps are there and launch the same way if I need them. The only difference was that a start page was made out of the start menu. Hardly complicated to wrap one’s head around.
So yeah, Windows in a lot of ways has been far less cumbersome, but it’s been that way for a looong time, and I don’t see that as “changing places” recently.
A matter of preference. I am typing on Win 8.1. I wish it was Win 7. All my DAWs are Win 7. I see exactly zero advantage to Win 8, with some things being more cumbersome and fiddly to access quickly. It was supposed to be an upgrade. Where?
I have 10 point multitouch on my Win 7 DAWs, so no advantage there. Anyway, I’m happy for you about Win 8. However, since MS is reverting to the Start Menu, etc, I believe many people feel the way I do.
BUT, I did make an edit in my post above because I agree with you. I changed the sentence to “Apple and MS have changed places”.
